Ritesh Misra, Surat, 11 August 2023
Sportsfield is a famous address at Worli, Mumbai housing sixteen sports heroes, including Sunny Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar. Six former test cricket captains of India are amongst the sixteen. Ajit Wadekar, Polly Umrigar, Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri are five of them. The sixth is Gulabrai Sipahimalani Ramchand, who captained India in just one series, but had the honour of leading India to its first ever win over Australia.
There is a sweet anecdote regarding this famous victory. Once, G.S Ramchand, during a function at Mumbai, had gone to take autographs of current players for his niece. The then Australian captain, Mark Taylor, went up to him and said, “Sir, my name is Mark Taylor. I am here to receive an award on behalf of my team. Can I shake the hand of the man who led India to its first win over us in 1959?” Hats off to Mark for his cricketing knowledge, love for tradition, and, of course, his humility.
G.S Ramchand played for India for 8 years, from 1952 to 1960. He played 33 Tests and scored 1180 runs with just 2 centuries. He also took 41 wickets with a 6-49 versus Pakistan as his best figures. One century was against New Zealand. The other one was a heroic one in an adverse situation. India had lost 6 wickets for just 140 versus a terrific Aussie attack comprising Lindwall, Crawford, Benaud, and Davidson. He came up with a heroic 109 and helped India get a creditable draw. Those days, India played very less cricket and hence he played just 33 Tests over a 8 year period.
His only Test series as a captain was also his last. However, his captaincy and leadership was very much praised. Nari Contractor had scored a very important 74 in that famous Test at Kanpur and says that Ramchand, who was a very shrewd captain, played a master-stroke of changing the end from which Jasu Patel was bowling. Resultantly, Jasu ended up taking 9 wickets from that end and took 14 in the match.
In domestic cricket, G.S Ramchand was a giant. He played 1st class cricket for 20 years and scored 6000 plus runs and also took 235 wickets. He had 16 centuries and took 5 wickets in an innings as many as nine times. He had the unique ability of rising to the big occasion when his team needed him the most. He featured in five of Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy wins, and in four of the Ranji finals he scored hundreds! In the 5th final, he scored 55 not out and 80 not out in both innings, respectively. He was Ajit Wadekar’s first Ranji Captain and Ajit remembers him for teaching him how to use the knife and fork on the day of his Ranji Debut (Source: Makarand Waingankar in Times of India). That is an example of how sophisticated Ramchand was and how keen he was to educate youngsters to adopt table manners and etiquette. In the 1962 Ranji final, Ajit Wadekar scored 235 and skipper Ramchand too had a ton as well.
G.S Ramchand was known as the best-dressed Indian cricketer. Always smart and dapper! Writer Abhishek Mukherjee says few cricketers could be so “outrageously counter-attacking“. Abhishek quotes Polly Umrigar as saying, “an asset to any side, Ramchand was an all rounder and a gutsy and a tough cricketer. He was a brilliant close-in fielder and had no gear to protect him, which just goes to show how brave he was”. Abhishek also quotes Raju Bharatan as saying, “Ramchand should have tried his hand at doing a western, he would have been an instant cowboy hit as one unfailingly firing from the hip.”
His nephew, Alan Sippy, later played Ranji Trophy for Mumbai for several years. Ramchand worked for Air India for a long time. Sadly, those days when a cricketer (even if he was an Indian captain) took days off to lead the country, there was a cut in salary. G.S Ramchand was also the Manager of the Indian team for the 1975 World Cup. He passed away in Mumbai on 8th September, 2003, following multiple heart attacks. He was 76. His family continues to live in Sportsfield.
If Aussie cricket captain Mark Taylor can remember G.S Ramchand, certainly so can we. Sir, you led us to our first ever win over Australia and we shall always cherish that. You are our Icon!
